Marcus has some good ideas there, I think.

There are a few issues that have prevented me from writing more reviews.

As Marcus says, no one is quite sure what an '8' means, for example; a great many of the reviews have been '9's and '10's (too many, by my standards). So if one gives an '8' to a 'very good' story (in Marcus's words) one is in effect, saying that it is less meritorious than all of the inflated '9's and '10's out there. Nothing can be done about the reviews that have already been done (in the past, I suspect, one did not have to register, to review?? -- the old stories have far more reviews than the new ones). But the grades should mean something -- 7 or 8 should be a 'good' score; and 9's and 10's should be reserved for stories that are really outstanding.

Obviously, everyone has his/her own standards as to writing quality, preferences as to subject matter, and concerns as to spelling, grammar, etc -- a story that might excite the heck out of you might bore me to tears or squick me to nausea. So this will never be an exact science.

Most importantly perhaps, the majority of us don't want to hurt someone's feelings; every writer has to start somewhere, and some may have expended a lot of energy producing a work that you or I might tedious. And at this stage in the author's 'career' the result might be the best of which he/she is capable, even thougè there is room for considerable improvement.

Marcus' multiple choice idea has merit, too. There are so many ingredients to writing and virtually no one will excel at all of them, but many will be strong in at least one area; it would be good to give credit for 'A' while suggesting the author needs improvement on 'B'. Some off the top of my head possibilities:

1 Content Gripping; very interesting plot, characters,
Interesting
Didn't even bother to finish it

2 Originality Original settings, characters, action
Only fair
Have seen it all before many times

3 Writing Skills First-rate use of language
Good, readable prose
Fair -- could have been significantly better
Poor -- Syntax, spelling, grammar very weak

4 Erotic quotient Really punched my buttons
Fair -- Liked the idea, but not the execution
Not my cup of tea

5 Sustained interest Read every word; look forward to more
Fair -- read a lot; may read more later
Poor -- Gave up after a few pages

This is all off the top of my head (and it strikes me that the #4 should definitely be #1 ;-). Would a format like this (together with a definition of the overall 1-10 rankings something akin to Marcus' idea) be of interest? Perhaps there should be more than 3-4 choices?

Or is this too much like a report card? I like this notion because I frequently see a story that has a very interesting idea, or works erotically (for me), even though it is seriously flawed in other respects. It would be nice to give credit for the things the author DID succeed at -- everyone deserves credit for trying.

OTOH, perhaps this format would take up way too much band width -- I know nothing of such things. Jinn?

Boccaccio